Mindfulness, Yoga, and Setting Boundaries: Finding Balance in the Digital Age

In today's fast-paced and hyper-connected world, finding moments of peace and stillness has become increasingly challenging. We are constantly bombarded with notifications, social media updates, and digital distractions that can leave us feeling overwhelmed and disconnected from ourselves. However, with the practice of mindfulness and yoga, we can cultivate a sense of awareness and set healthy boundaries with our phones and social media, allowing us to find balance and reclaim our well-being.

The Power of Mindfulness: Mindfulness is the practice of bringing our attention to the present moment without judgment. It involves being fully aware of our thoughts, feelings, sensations, and surroundings. By incorporating mindfulness into our daily lives, we can develop a deeper sense of self-awareness and a greater ability to stay grounded amidst the chaos of the digital world.

One powerful way to incorporate mindfulness is through the practice of yoga. Yoga combines physical movement with breath awareness, allowing us to synchronize body and mind. By focusing on the sensations of our body as we move through different poses, we can bring our attention away from our phones and social media and into the present moment.

Setting Boundaries with Your Phone: While our smartphones are incredibly useful tools, they can also be major sources of distraction and stress. To set healthy boundaries with your phone, consider implementing the following strategies:

1. Establish "Phone-Free" Zones: Designate certain areas or times in your daily routine where the use of your phone is off-limits. For example, you might decide to keep your phone out of the bedroom to create a peaceful sleep environment or institute a "no phones at the dinner table" rule to encourage mindful eating and meaningful conversations.

2. Practice Digital Detoxes: Set aside specific periods of time, such as an hour or even an entire day, when you disconnect from your phone and social media. Use this time to engage in activities that promote mindfulness, such as going for a nature walk, journaling, or practicing yoga.

3. Mindful Notifications: Take a moment to assess which notifications on your phone are necessary and which ones are simply distractions. Consider turning off non-essential alerts and only allowing notifications from critical apps or contacts. This will reduce the constant interruptions and allow you to focus more on the present moment.

Embracing Social Media Mindfully: Social media platforms have become integral parts of our lives, but they can also have negative effects on our mental well-being.

Establishing Boundaries: To develop a healthier relationship with our phones and social media, setting boundaries is crucial.

Here are some practical tips:

a. Create Tech-Free Zones: Designate certain areas in your home, such as your bedroom or the dining table, as tech-free zones. This allows you to disconnect and be fully present in the moment.

b. Set Intentional Phone Usage: Determine specific times throughout the day when you will check your phone or engage with social media. Create a schedule that works for you, allowing for dedicated phone-free periods.

c. Mindful Social Media Consumption: When using social media, be intentional about the content you consume. Unfollow accounts that don't align with your values or cause negative emotions. Use the mute or unfollow features to limit exposure to content that may trigger stress or overwhelm.

d. Practice Digital Detoxes: Occasionally disconnecting completely from your phone and social media can do wonders for your mental and emotional well-being. Set aside regular periods, such as a day or weekend, to engage in offline activities and recharge.

Mindfulness Yoga

Adding Mindfulness to Your Yoga Practice

What is Mindfulness?

It is the practice of purposely focusing your attention on the present moment—and accepting it without judgment.

Mindfulness in Practice

You are halfway thru your classes at Yogalife Studios Edmonton. it is difficult, and you have had enough. The poses drag on for what feels like hours, and you are ready to give up. Here is where you can incorporate mindfulness into your yoga practice. By shifting from a reaction to observation, you understand that this discomfort is temporary. This alteration in thinking can offer an entirely different experience to your yoga experience.

By combining mindfulness into your practice, it pushes you to drive deeper into your yoga practice.

Important Attributes of Mindfulness

• Trusting the process

• Letting go

• Having patience

• Acceptance

Mindfulness can look different for everyone; it is important to remember not to compare your journey to another.

Have more questions about adding mindfulness to your yoga experience? Reach out to our memberships team at Memberships@yogalifestudios.ca or next time you are attending one of our Edmonton Yogalife studios don’t be afraid to ask your teacher for some helpful tips and advice!

How Being Mindful Can Help You Stick With Your Goals or Resolutions

Adapted from Angela Mulholland from CTVNews.ca.

If New Year’s resolutions are notorious for one thing it’s that they’re easy to break. Our resolve to eat healthier gets thrown by the wayside when we are stressed by work or home life. Our plans to go for more walks are pushed aside when more important matters compete for our time. Ahhh, time.

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It's always about not having enough time. Some days I imagine that is entirely true. Most other days it's the easy excuse, especially since we all are allotted the same number of hours in a day.

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Of course children, shift work, family, etc. may get in the way. However, taking more time for yourself isn't selfish. Again, it is NOT selfish. You need to love yourself enough to realize that you can take even an hour for yourself in a day.

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If you are always giving to others and do not receive in like kind (or even close to it), eventually your mind and body cannot keep up.

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Often by the time March 1 rolls around (or February 1st - and it has been stated that after just one week, 20% of people have already given up on their "resolution") - we’re left wondering how we’ve managed to fall back into our old habits.

Breaking habits is never easy because, by their nature, they are ingrained in us until they have become automatic reflexes. It’s easy to mindlessly reach for snacks when we're bored, or sit down after dinner rather than go for a walk if that‘s how we‘ve done things for years.  My wife and I just recently watched the following documentary on Doc Zone - (http://www.cbc.ca/doczone/episodes/slaves-to-habit). If you have some time, it has some interesting insights on habits/addiction. Three main people are sited: habitual eaters, habitual smokers, and habitual shoppers. All groups are border-lining on possible addiction.

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Perhaps the key to ending unhealthy habits is developing a skill called mindfulness.

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What exactly is mindfulness?

To psychologists, mindfulness means being fully aware of what is happening at this very moment. One of the ways of maintaining this awareness is through mindful meditation, or mindful practicing (of which our studio offers a quite a few classes).

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In practical terms, mindfulness meditation involves sitting quietly and focusing the mind on one thing -- often the feel or sound of one’s breath. Then, as thoughts enter the mind, the idea is to take notice of the thoughts but not react to them; simply return the focus to the breath.

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On the surface, it’s a simple technique; but it’s a skill that takes time to learn. Yet once mastered, mindfulness can have powerful effects, as a growing number of studies show.

Research over the last several years has found mindfulness meditation can help with depression by turning off the negative self-talk that often starts the spiral into deeper depression. Other studies have shown it can help with chronic pain and anxiety disorders.

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Those who regularly practise mindfulness say it does more than just relax them during the meditation itself; over time, they begin transferring the mindfulness technique of “quieting the mind”  into their thought processes throughout the day.

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Sarah Housser is a psychotherapist who teaches mindfulness techniques to those with depression and anxiety at The Mindfulness Clinic in Toronto. "People often ask, 'Okay, I'm going to follow my breath and then that's supposed to make me less depressed? What's the connection?'" She explains that mindfulness forces us to be aware of what’s happening right now, to fully experience the moment -- and not judge it.

While that sounds simple enough, it’s not easy to do, particularly when our minds are used to multitasking or focusing on several things at once.

"Usually, our minds are worrying about the future or the past, or criticizing something or wanting something or judging something," she says. "But what that means is we’re not really awake to the moments of our life. We’re just getting ready for the next thing. Instead of enjoying what we're eating, for example, we're thinking about what we're going to do after we eat. And we miss a lot.”

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By focusing only on this moment right now, Housser says it gives our minds a chance to take a break and reset themselves.

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"It's like de-fragmenting the computer or tuning an instrument; it just kind of settles you back to something that is more real -- so that those moments carry on,” she says.

Ending negative self-talk often key 

Mindfulness also urges us not to react to thoughts that enter the mind during a meditation. When thoughts begin to creep in and distract, instead of getting irritated, the idea is to simply notice the thoughts, send them away gently and re-focus on the breath.

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With enough practice, this ability not to judge or react to intruding thoughts becomes a habit in itself.

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Housser explains that many of us, especially those with depression or anxiety, have a loop of negative self-talk playing in our heads -- even when many of the worries are neither helpful nor even true. PLEASE remember, it does not have to be PERFECT. There are glimmers of perfection in everything, but your changes should not, and cannot be in pursuit of perfection. Since we are always in progress of growing and changing, there is really no endpoint (much like your yoga practice). So give yourself a break!

"So mindfulness is a way to come back. We can say to ourselves, 'You don't need to fix everything'," she says.

"The concept I like to think about is that the mind is going to pump thoughts the way the heart pumps blood. We can't stop our thoughts. We just don't need to take all of them so seriously. They're just thoughts and they're constantly changing."

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Learning to use mindfulness to slow the mind, to take notice and appreciate each moment, and to recalibrate when we are over-reacting to thoughts are all skills that can take a little time to master, Housser says.

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Self-awareness as a way to shift habits 

When it comes to New Year’s resolutions -- which are often about habits -- the first step is awareness of our habits and what compels us to slip back into them (again, watch the Doc Zone) . The next step is convincing ourselves to resist that urge.

Housser says mindfulness can help with both.

“People can use mindfulness as a way to shift habits because what you're learning is the ability to notice a sensation or a desire, and to just sit with those sensations without reacting to them. If you just sit with the sensations long enough, they will pass,” she says. I have heard it is for as little as 5 minutes, but again, the documentary goes even further.

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Mindfulness can also help when we fall off the resolution wagon by reminding us not to beat ourselves up over our misstep and by renewing the resolve to try again. A key principle of mindfulness meditation involves acceptance. When the mind wanders during a meditation, the key is to accept that it will. As Housser says, that’s just what the mind does -- just as the heart pumps blood.

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“Instead of judging yourself, the instruction is just to bring yourself back to the present. The same is true with making goals for change,” she says.

“You can try and promise to go the gym more often. But if you find after a time that you've fallen away, you can just start again if you let go of the judging story of: 'Oh God, here I go again, failing at this.' Instead you can say: ‘Okay, I've kind of lost my way with my goal. But I can just begin again,’ ” she says.

“What you'll find is what you get is more time. If you’re really awake moment to moment, you get to have each moment of your life instead of missing most of them.

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“It’s about waking up to your life.”

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I wish you all a very awakened and mindful year.

Brandon